The Necessity of Birthdays
by BlueUtopiah
Summary: Kurama makes an interesting discovery about Hiei during breakfast, fluff ensues. Shounen ai. Oneshot


"Fox?" Hiei's voice was slightly muffled, since he was talking around a mouthful of breakfast.

"Yes, Hiei?" Kurama was cleaning up the kitchen, clearing away his own breakfast dishes and piling soiled pots and pans into the sink. However, he still left a few plates of food on the table since Hiei would be eating for at least another half-hour, possibly longer. Kurama wasn't sure why Hiei ate so much – maybe it was because he often went hungry as a child, being the last in line for food among the thieves; or maybe it was because his metabolism was high, he was unnaturally fast after all…

But Kurama liked to think that Hiei just liked his cooking.

"What is that red circle?" Hiei gestured at the wall with a fork full of pancake.

_Red Circle?_ Kurama turned to see what Hiei was pointing at and grinned. The kitchen of Kurama's apartment was decorated in the greens and yellows of a sunlit forest and the walls held pictures of various unusual flowers, a large brass fox he had found at a yard sale, functional hooks for the pots and pans, and a calendar – which was what had captured Hiei's curiosity.

Wiping his hands on a dishtowel, Kurama sat next to Hiei with a teasing smile. "Well, that's a calendar Hiei, it's a ningen way of keeping track of the date."

Hiei glared at him, syrup dripping off the piece of pancake that still dangled from his fork. "I _know_ that fox," his voice was edgy, rampant with surliness "I want to know what the red circle is for." He hated it when Kurama was coy – sometimes he just wanted an answer, he didn't want to dance.

Kurama suppressed a laugh, "It's to mark an important date." he continued, still teasing the jaganshi with mild evasion. Hiei's eyes narrowed, his glare turning into a glower, and Kurama decided to give in; he was sure that if he pushed Hiei any further he would be cleaning up more than the breakfast dishes.

"I circled September 6th because it's Mother's birthday." Kurama explained.

"Hn." Satisfied that he no longer had to banter - _and it was far too early for banter_ - Hiei resumed shoving forkfuls of syrup-soaked chocolate chip pancakes into his tiny mouth.

After a few moments, Kurama asked carefully "Hiei, when is your birthday?"

Hiei stopped chewing and gave the kitsune a look of consideration and – confusion? "I don't know." He admitted.

"Really?" Kurama's eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"I was too busy being thrown from a cliff by my mother's people, I didn't check the date." There was derision in the sarcasm, but Kurama knew that if Hiei managed to be sarcastic about it, then he wasn't about to disembowel Kurama with his fork for asking.

The fox – crafty as always and forever ready for another round of banter – gave Hiei a sly look "You know Hiei, we could always ask Yukina, I bet she knows-"

Kurama ducked as a large slice of pancake flew past his head and hit the wall.

"Or you could just pick a day." Kurama added quickly, trying to avoid having the rest of Hiei's breakfast and whatever else he could reach thrown at him as well.

Hiei's glower had changed to a death stare, although it wasn't nearly as menacing as it usually was, since he had syrup on his chin. "Why does it matter?" he asked, gripping the fork like it was his katana.

"Well" Kurama moved closer to the jaganshi despite the possible threat of bodily harm. "It's a day where I get to celebrate _you_."

"You don't need a special day for that." Hiei retorted, his glare not so threatening now that Kurama was in close proximity, but still there for good measure.

"But you get presents." Kurama added.

"Hn." Hiei shrugged and turned away, reaching for more pancakes. "I don't need useless ningen tokens."

Kurama leaned over until his lips brushed Hiei's ear and the small demon stiffened, freezing in place with his arm still stretched over the table "But I give very" Kurama whispered, his sultry voice dripping with Youko lust and caressing Hiei's ear in just the right way "_interesting_ gifts."

The fork clattered to the table, and Hiei shot across the kitchen in a black blur, stopping before the calendar. He stared at the current month for a second, then lifted the page, looking at the month of October before placing a finger on one of the boxes. "Here. This one." He declared.

Kurama crossed the room, wrapping his arms around the jaganshi from behind and laying his chin on a small but strong shoulder.

"October 21st?" He asked. At Hiei's slight nod, Kurama grabbed a marker out of the drawer closest to the calendar and circled the date in red, all without letting go of the smaller demon.

"Hmmm." Kurama said, placing the marker back in its drawer. "That doesn't give me much time."

"Much time for what?" Hiei asked. Before he could finish the sentence, though, he was spun in the embrace and held tightly against the fox's slender chest. Looking up, he saw Kurama's eyes flicker to gold and his breath caught as the kitsune leaned in, not for a kiss, but to lick that stray drop of syrup from his chin with a very wet tongue. Hiei's eyes widened at the contact, his face becoming almost childlike as Kurama's lips then hovered over his own, only a breath apart.

"To get you a gift." Kurama answered in a husky whisper, the lust in his voice eclipsing his earlier sultriness, and Hiei shivered in that tight embrace, his eyelids drooping a little.

With a feral grin, Kurama threaded his fingers through that spiky hair and tilted the smaller demon's head back, capturing his mouth in a fierce possessive kiss. Hiei moaned into the kiss and as the two sank to the kitchen floor, Kurama broke away, murmuring "I guess I had better start shopping now."


End file.
